The present invention relates in general to computer user interfaces and more specifically to a method for rendering node displays in a network topology.
Conventional techniques for rendering node displays in a network topology are well known. The importance of enabling a user to view, via a graphical display, the nodes and connection paths in a network cannot be overemphasized. For example, in a network such as a storage area network (SAN), connection paths between nodes are displayed on the graphical display of a user interface associated with the network. If a problem exists with any of the connections or paths, the problem is quickly detected and rectified. Another example is when a switch within a network malfunctions, the problem is quickly traced to the switch and rectified. In addition, the ability to view networks simplifies tasks such as future upgrades to the network or associated devices.
Conventionally, a graphical display is used to show a given configuration of the layout, wherein every connection path is shown separately. Disadvantageously, the display is static, in that it corresponds to a given layout of the network, and a fixed representation of the display is shown to the users. The display in complex networks having large numbers of connection paths, can become quite confusing to view. Moreover, graph drawing algorithms for creating the displays do not scale well to complex graphs, associated with large networks. The nodes in a complex network can appear barely visible in the display, rendering the view of the overall network topology difficult to interpret by the user. Further yet, when the graphs used to produce the display do not have a simple tree structure, the scalability problem is accentuated because the display of all connection paths at a single time constitutes a complex maze of datapaths which can not be easily simplified for viewing purposes.
In the above-referenced related application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/539,350 entitled “METHOD FOR DISPLAYING NODES OF A NETWORK USING A MULTI-LAYER REPRESENTATION WHEREIN NODES CAN BE SELECTIVELY COLLAPSED OF EXPANDED,” filed Mar. 31, 2000, a mechanism was described for grouping nodes for a network and for expanding or collapsing these groups. Examples were given on what these groups can consist of. In addition, U.S. application Ser. No. 09/539,350 describes how the group of nodes can be themselves grouped into a second level of groups, etc.
Although the node expansion method described the above provides for simplified display of networks, there remains a need to distinguish network subsets which are not connected.